


A Brighter Burn

by PeacefulPhoenix



Category: RWBY
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Post Volume 3, Taiyang is there for half a second, Unrequited Bumbleby if you want to see it that way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 10:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15241827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeacefulPhoenix/pseuds/PeacefulPhoenix
Summary: It's been a couple months since that fateful day at Beacon where Yang lost her arm. And each day feels like an eternity.





	A Brighter Burn

Trees stretched out as far as she could see. The leaves were just starting to change, filling the view with brilliant shades of red, orange, yellow, and brown. Green grass poked out through the litter of leaves that had already fallen. An effort had been made to clear the stone path but that, too, had been mostly covered once again. Where the leaves had already fallen, branches seemed to reach out towards the sky.

A chill crept in through the window Yang was sitting in front of but she didn’t move. She made an effort not to even shiver but to let the cool air leech into her. She could feel the ache in both hands and into each finger. Or, she believed she could.

Her hand ran through her hair and she shifted her focus, feeling the warmth of the sun streaming through the glass. She let it tingle in her skin and warm her shoulders.

This was more familiar a feeling. She’d spent many a summer playing out in the sun. Practicing to become a huntress. Teaching Ruby all that she had learned. She would play until her skin had been kissed by the sun and her smile was even brighter than that. 

But then she had grown up.

The heat that warmed her then was the righteous fury of her semblance. But it felt darker. Instead of warming her, it cooked her from the inside out. It felt like the fire was licking her soul, growing in power for every second she let it carry on until she felt she could lose herself in it.

It had taken her a long time to learn to control it. To turn that blaze of fury into something productive. 

And it had only taken her one moment to lose it all.

She turned away from the window and back to her room. It was perfectly clean. Not because she spent so much time keeping it tidy, but because she did nothing to ruin it. She’d been here for weeks now and she still refused to settle in. Couldn’t accept that this was her life now. 

And as she looked around the room that she had once felt so comfortable in, her body ached. It was a toss up really if it was hunger, fatigue, or simply an ache that her mind had constructed to torture her. 

Whatever it was, she found herself laying on her bed and looking up at the ceiling. Plastic stars dotted the plaster. Were it night, she might be able to see their faint glow. They’d been there since she was a child. 

And suddenly looking at them brought that ache back to her chest and she turned on her side to stare out the window once more. It didn’t hurt as much that way. At least, not all the time. 

When the knock came at the door, Yang didn’t even turn to look. There was no one she wanted to see really. So maybe if she refused to acknowledge them, they would give up and walk away. 

Instead, the door swung open. “Uh, Yang?” She didn’t answer. “It’s Neptune.” 

Yang continued to look straight out the window.

“So… It’s been a week or two so I wanted to stop by and see how you were doing. Your dad let me in. I know we didn’t really talk much about our families and stuff back at school but why didn’t you tell me your dad was so cool? And that your house was so cute. I mean, not cute. But nice. Not that it isn’t cute! It is! Unless that would be weird to say… Is that weird to say?”

Yang didn’t need to see him to know that look on his face when he fumbled his way into an awkward conversation; the way his hand would go to the back of his neck and his eyebrows would pull together. Normally she found it endearing. Something in her wanted to turn and look at him. He used to make her feel better. But for now she resisted.

“Shut up, Nep,” she found herself saying. She did shift though, turning just a bit towards him so it was more her shoulder pointing at him than her back. 

He seemed to take the dismissal as an invitation, however, because suddenly he was sitting on the edge of her bed. “I brought you food.” He made a show of holding out the plate of bacon, taking a nice long sniff and sighing happily. “Now if you don’t eat this I definitely will because it smells good,” he said, drawing out the word, “and your dad is a great cook. So come on, I know you want to.”

She certainly didn’t want to give in. But her stomach did. 

So with a sigh, Yang found herself turning towards him and sitting up, taking the plate and digging in without saying anything.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. I have a sixth sense when it comes to food. Probably because Sun is always hungry…” He got lost in thought for a second before shaking it off and stealing one of the pieces. “Anyways, the point is I’m awesome and you love me.” He got some serious side eye for that but it didn’t seem to phase him. 

For a while he let it be silent, though he couldn’t stop himself from fidgeting with the jacket he was holding in his lap. He stared out the window for a while before letting his gaze drift back to Yang. “You look good, you know.” He let his eyes drift away again.

“You don’t have to lie to me,” she said quietly, setting down a half-finished piece of bacon.

His eyes snapped back to her. “What? I’m not lying… You always look good, Yang.” She could hear the ernesty in his voice but couldn’t accept it.

She pushed the plate of food away, towards him, and leaned back on her arm. “I know I’m a hot mess. I haven’t even left this room in like…” How long had it been anyways? “Days.” 

“Well at least you have the key part of hot mess. The hot part!” Neptune was smiling from ear to ear at that one.

Yang tried to fix him with a look but found the corners of her mouth turning up despite her. “You’re an idiot, you know that?” 

“Oh yeah,” he replied, smile not fading one bit. For a moment they just smiled at each other before he nodded towards the door. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk.”

He stood, spinning the jacket from his lap to around his shoulders. Once it was on he held out his hand towards her. 

She looked down at her own hand and then at his. “I don’t know, Neptune…”

“You need some fresh air. Trust me.”

“I could just open the window,” she muttered, even as she took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up.

Neptune picked up her jacket from where it rested on the back of a chair and helped her into it. Even as she muttered, “I can do it myself,” he didn’t waver. 

As Yang pulled her hair out from under the jacket, Neptune took a second to look over her. He’d seen her plenty of times since the… Accident? But each time she put on that jacket, tied off at the arm it hit him in the gut again. He refused to treat her any different but, well, she had been different since then. 

By the time they made it down the stairs, Taiyang was waiting for them. “I don’t know how you did it, but you’re welcome here anytime Neptune.”

“Dad!” Yang snapped, taking charge and pulling Neptune towards the door. 

Over his shoulder, he cast a, “My pleasure, Mr. Xiao Long!”

When they made it outside, the door slamming solidly behind them, Yang let out a long sigh. 

The cold was more biting out here than it had been inside. And the sun warmer. She could already feel her ears and cheeks turning pink. The leaves crunched under their feet and birds sang in the trees. Occasionally Yang caught a glance at squirrels and rabbits darting in and out of cover. 

It felt… alive out here. 

“Thanks for coming,” she finally said, barely more than a whisper. Her hand found his and their fingers threaded together smile threatening to play across her lips. 

He gave her hand a squeeze and smiled back at her. “Of course I’d come.”

At that, her face fell just a bit and she looked away, trying to find some little critter to distract her. “That’s more than some people.”

“She still hasn’t come?” Neptune’s smile fell as well.

“No, cause why would she?” For a brief second, anger flared up in Yang’s very core and she could feel her body growing warmer. A moment’s concentration and a deep breath had her semblance under control again. 

Neptune didn’t know how to respond so for a while, he didn’t. When he did it was with, “Sun says she’s on the run or something. He’s chasing after her.”

A rabbit was hopping alongside them in the bushes and Yang locked onto it. “I don’t care. She can do whatever she wants.”

“Sure.”

They walked in silence for several minutes. There was plenty left unsaid but neither felt the need to say it. The listened, instead, to the wind weaving through the branches, rustling the leaves and shaking several loose. To the sound of the birds, singing songs to each other from somewhere hidden.

When Neptune came to a slow stop, Yang followed his lead. He knelt next to a bush without releasing her hand and when he stood again, a flower rested between his fingers. It was a soft purple and looked as though it had bloomed rather recently. Without a word, he reached out for her and slipped it behind her ear. 

“You really are beautiful.” He said it quietly. Almost reverently. 

As if he hadn’t meant to say it, his cheeks turned an even brighter pink and he looked away and coughed. 

“Thank you,” Yang whispered back, letting go of his hand to cup his face. She looked into his eyes and said it again. “Thank you, Neptune. For everything.”

They stared into each other’s eyes for several long seconds, neither one wanting to break the moment first. Neptune’s eyes moved first, straying down her face to her lips. Hers soon did the same. His hand came up to cover Yang’s own before pulling it to his lips and kissing her palm softly. 

A warmth bubbled up in her once again, different from the anger of earlier. Brighter. More pleasant. A welcome warmth that chased away the chill of Autumn and almost made her forget it. 

“I should get you back,” he finally said, breaking the silence and taking a step back. When had they gotten so close anyways? 

“Why?” She smiled easily now. “We could stay out a little longer.”

“Couldn’t get you out at first and now I can’t get you back, huh? I see how it is. You’re so overcome by my pure awesome that you can’t bear the thought of being away from me.” He smiled back and let their hands fall back to their sides. 

She stepped forward, into his space, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Something like that.”

He coughed and looked away, struggling for words for a second. He always had been so easy to fluster. “Well, I guess we’re not in a rush or anything…”

She walked backwards, slowly, pulling him deeper into the woods. He went without a second’s more hesitation.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written in two parts on my writing tumblr, writing-partners so if you want to read more of my writing that I don't publish here or request prompts of your own, check me out there!
> 
> And remember comments and kudos are the lifeblood that keep writers like me running!


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